Winter Runners

This morning at 5:40 I met up with Donna and Dave for a three mile run, before our planned 5 mile run. At 6:15 there were 6 of us running from the Amherst Cinema parking lot. It was 9 degrees, and the roads were crunchy, and we all felt is was better than yesterday's running. Yesterday the ice and falling snow made our endeavors more treacherous than is usually fun. The day before Donna and I met for what would be 15.6 miles of sliding around on the streets. At the same time Tim and another runner went out for a long run as well, and suffered through the same poor footing and traffic. After today's run we compared stories. We observed the ice forming on each of us, hanging off clothing, skin and hair. Winter's extreme conditions and dangers don't deter the winter runners. The worse it is the better the story about it will be. It was cold this morning, but we have all run in much colder conditions. The coldest run I ever participated in was an 8 mile Saturday morning run through Amherst in 11 bellow zero air. There were at least six runners that day as well. We posed outside of Rao's after, showing off the icicles that hung off of us. Winter running cures the winter blues, keeps us in shape, prepares us for spring races, and shows us how much we rely on each other and how much we can do by ourselves. Keep your feet on the Road - Mark